How to Make Fish Stew Down East Style
Down East style cooking refers to the coastal cooking of Maine, particularly northern Maine. Down East style fish stew is one of the great chowders in the Down East tradition. Like its clam chowder sister, Down East fish stew is a hearty main meal entree. Unlike clam chowder which cooks usually serve immediately, Down East style fish stew gets more flavorful if you refrigerate it for one to four hours or even eat it the next day. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Skillet
- 5-quart stock pot
- 3-quart saucepan
- 2 lbs. firm white fleshed fish such as cod, turbot or red snapper, diced in cubes
- 3 oz. diced salt pork or 1/2 cup diced regular bacon or turkey bacon
- 1 to 4 tbsp. cooking oil such as canola
- 2 tbsp. fresh thyme or 2 tsp. dried thyme
- 3 cups potatoes, peeled and diced in 1/2" cubes
- Two 8-oz. bottles of clam juice
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 celery ribs, diced
- Two to three cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can evaporated milk
- Two to three cups whole milk
- 2 tbsp. cornstarch
- Salt
- Pepper
- 2 to 3 tbsp. coarsely chopped parsley
Instructions
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1
Saute the salt pork or bacon in a skillet. If using turkey bacon add 2 tbsp. of canola oil and heat before adding bacon to avoid burning. Saute until the meat has crisped and all fat has melted. Drain off excess fat--all but 2 tbsp., or for a low-fat dish, drain all fat and add 1 to 3 tbsp. of canola oil as needed. Add diced onion and celery. Saute until almost soft, about five minutes, add diced garlic and saute for an additional two minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
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2
Transfer the diced vegetables to stock pot. Add two bottles of clam juice, the fish and potatoes. Add the dried or fresh thyme and mix thoroughly. Add 1 cup of water or enough to just cover. Simmer until the potatoes are just soft, about 10 minutes.
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3
Drain off liquid and transfer to 3-quart saucepan. Remove 1 1/2 cups of solids and mash them until soft and smooth. Add the mashed solids to the liquid in the saucepan and heat to simmer. Add a can of evaporated milk and 2 cups of whole milk (or skim milk for low-fat version).
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4
Heat liquids over medium heat, stirring constantly. Put 2 tbsp. of cornstarch in small bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup of water. Whisk the water and cornstarch mixture into the saucepan with liquids. Heat to high to thicken the mixture. Stir frequently to avoid burning the bottom of the pan. When the mixture starts to boil, bring to rolling boil and reduce the liquid, keeping a light boil for three minutes.
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5
Transfer the thickened broth to the stockpot and pour over the solids. If it needs more liquid, add more water or milk. Reheat the stew. If you added milk, briefly return to light boil then turn down to simmer for two minutes. Taste and season with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately or refrigerate up to four hours to enhance the flavor.
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Tips & Warnings
For a low-fat entree use turkey bacon or skip bacon completely. Use nonfat evaporated milk and regular skim milk in place of whole milk. Extra cornstarch may be necessary to thicken the nonfat milk version and a zesty seasoning such as hot sauce will supply the needed kick to replace the smoky pork flavor.
Hot sauce lovers may appreciate a dash or three of hot pepper sauce. Don't use too much salt or hot sauce if you're not serving the stew right away, as the flavor will continue to develop.
Do not overcook potatoes or the chowder will be mushy.
Be careful not to burn the liquid after adding the milk.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit cooking chowder image by Mat Hayward from Fotolia.com
